The solution for lightweight, long-spanning structural elements is to implement the castellated ACB® and Angelina™ beams, with their circular and sinusoidal web openings, elegantly combining function with flexibility.

Reconstruction in Italy after earthquakes: build it with steel!

In Italy, the Fondazione Promozione Acciaio and ArcelorMittal are very active in promoting steel as the best alternative to reconstruct damaged buildings after earthquakes.

Since the middle ages, Italy has recorded almost 100 earthquakes of varying severity. Recently in L’Aquila, in Abruzzo, Umbria and Marche the country has suffered from earthquakes that have caused hundreds of fatalities and extensive damage to constructions.

Reconstruction is therefore an imperative for the Italian community. It encompasses various challenges in terms of speed of construction, cost, versatility and of course seismic resistance.

While historically Italian architects and engineers have been taught to build with concrete, the Fondazione Promozione Acciaio (FPA) and ArcelorMittal are actively promoting steel, which offers outstanding advantages over concrete, particularly in seismic environments.

In September 2016 in Bologna and in October in Firenze, Marco Tognoni, CTS coordinator and Luca Collavoli, account manager at the Milano agency gave 2 lectures on this theme to an audience of dozens of architects and engineers.

Easy to construct and deconstruct, resistant to fire, 100% recyclable, steel is the material of choice for designing buildings that cope with earthquakes because it is inherently ductile and flexible - flexing under extreme loads rather than crushing or crumbling. Furthermore, many of the beam-to-column connections in a steel building are designed principally to support gravity loads. Yet they also have a considerable capacity to resist lateral loads caused by wind and earthquakes.

As Françoise Carrara, construction market coordinator for the South-West region points out, “these awareness initiatives towards architects and engineers are very important to contribute to the development of a culture for steel in Italy”.

Indeed, our Italian teams carry out events on a regular basis to promote steel in construction in Italy, in parallel to the training sessions that FPA organises in the regions recently affected by earthquakes.

ArcelorMittal saves Venice from the waters for another 100 years

Venice, the Jewel of the Adriatic, has been suffering from floodings for decades. To protect this UNESCO world heritage site, 7 entities of ArcelorMittal Europe contribute to the M.O.S.E. project, estimated at € 5.5 billion, which consists of the installation of 78 floodgates to protect the city.

The Acqua alta: Venice’s main threat

The Acqua alta is the exceptional tide peak that occurs periodically in the Northern Adriatic Sea. In 1966, due to this phenomenon, 80% of the city was flooded as water rose 1.94 m above its usual level, causing huge damage to the historic city and leaving thousands of people homeless. The regular floods striking the city pushed the government to find an effective solution.

ArcelorMittal comes into play

In 1984, the Italian government introduced the M.O.S.E. (Modulo Sperimentale Elettromeccanico) project. The aim was to install 78 floodgates at the Lido, Malamocco and Chioggia inlets which will temporarily isolate the Venetian Lagoon from the sea during the annual high tides. The same year, a full-size prototype of a mobile gate was tested.

The main challenge for the M.O.S.E. project was to guarantee a very long life time to the works. Thanks to the support of ArcelorMittal Global R&D from Esch-sur-Alzette, ArcelorMittal Sheet Piling has been able to supply a tailor-made solution for Venice, representing the optimal solution in terms of durability, cost-efficiency and on-site feasibility as well as complying with the project’s requirements.

In 2004, 150,000 tonnes of sheet piles and tubes up to 50,3 m long were ordered from Long Products’ Belval and Differdange sites. ArcelorMittal’s AZ and HZ/AZ sheet piles were found to be the fastest and most cost-conscious option for this project.

They were used to build:

retaining walls,

quay walls

dry docks (to build the caissons for the foundations),

and to protect the foundations of the sluices built at each inlet, allowing boats to enter and leave the lagoon when the gates are up.

Sheet piles have also been used for temporary structures as they can be extracted easily and reused.

BD Projects delivered 500 spirally welded foundation pipes produced in its Dintelmond mill in The Netherlands. All pipes have been delivered in one piece over 40 meters to meet the highest retaining requirements. All hot rolled coils specified in high steel grades and thicknesses above 22 mm., are coming from the ArcelorMittal Europe – Flat Products mill in Bremen, Germany.

To communicate on its involvement in the project, ArcelorMittal Sheet Piling invited 21 European journalists for a Belval-Venice press trip in 2010. After a visit to the Belval mill to understand how sheet piles are produced, they had the opportunity to visit the site in Venice, where 135,000 tonnes of the sheet piles had already been delivered at the time.

ArcelorMittal Ringmill and Industeel put the finishing touches to the project

The impressive gates, measuring 20 m high, 20 to 30 m wide and with a 5 m thickness, were successfully tested in 2013. ArcelorMittal Ringmill delivered the 254 rings, essential part of the system, as they help the gates to lift. The rings are rolled by ArcelorMittal Ringmill in Seraing (Belgium) and are made of superduplex F53, produced by Industeel in Le Creusot, from steel blocks with a 500 mm diametre.

The M.O.S.E. system is operational since 2016, protecting the city for the 100 coming years. Thanks to ArcelorMittal, your grandchildren will be able to appreciate the beauty of Venice.

Efficiency, cost, aesthetics: the Triangle bridge in Dunkirk

Be it in the Netherlands, Poland, Sweden, or another European country, ArcelorMittal’s steel is used to build many bridges throughout Europe and across its borders. This time, it is in France that a bridge was built with our steel, with all the beams provided by ArcelorMittal Eurostructures Beam Finishing Centre in collaboration with ArcelorMittal Distribution Solutions.

From old to new

Next to Dunkirk, the gateway linking the towns of Petite-Synthe and Fort Mardyck to Saint Pol sur Mer has been closed to traffic for 5 years. The old bridge, made of reinforced concrete, was built in 1977 and demolished in 2011 for safety reasons due to one of its supports being damaged.

Connecting people

Since April 2016, the new “Triangle bridge” made with our steel has been opened for traffic. This gateway is a major traffic route for the Dunkirk area as it helps connecting 4 public transport lines which had to be removed during construction. Measuring 116 metres long, the new bridge includes:

A double lane for cars

A “green” lane for bicycles

A pavement for pedestrians

Steel and concrete

To build the new Triangle bridge, the best solution was to opt for a concrete-steel mixed structure. The new bridge is composed of a weatherproof concrete floor slab with acoustic insulation. Steel was chosen for the support beams due to its efficiency and for its aesthetic and economical properties. S460M steel is economically beneficial for that type of application. Indeed, the weight of the structure can be reduced with a low price increase, its carbon rate is very low and welding doesn’t require pre heating.

For the assembly, Eurostructures partnered with the team of Distribution Solutions (DSI) in Yutz, France. This Distribution Solutions team was in contact with the customer’s supervising office, checking compliance with the specifications:

Accordance with the EN1090 standard (specific to steel structure/bridges)

Accordance with EXC4 execution class (specific to special structures such as nuclear power stations and large-span bridges)

Accordance with the ISO3834 standard which specifies the level of quality required for fusion welding

Engineers

Iconic, a piece of the art, the symbol of Paris - Eiffel Tower is the best worldwide known example of structural steel architecture. The design and dimensioning of modern buildings, require a careful consideration of many factors, such as technical requirements, including building physics, architecture and cost-effectiveness.

Tools

ArcelorMittal also offers a number of pre-design tools in order to support engineers in the use and calculation of their range of steel products and solutions. These free tools cover various design aspects of steel and composite structures, in accordance with Eurocodes (beams, columns, castellated beams, slim floor solutions, steel grades, connections, etc.), different performances (e.g. fire & seismic calculations, life cycle assessment & cost estimation) and construction types.

Our technical team is always at your disposal and will gladly assist with answering all of your questions in order to provide you with the most beneficial offer.

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